Are Squeaky Floors A Structural Problem – Should You worry?

July 12, 2022

Have you ever sneaked to the refrigerator for a late-night snack, only to bump a creaky floorboard and wake up your entire family? Anywhere you’ve visited, whether a friend’s house or a theater, you’ve stepped on a section of the floor that chose to start making sounds immediately. The majority of dwellings are prone to creating numerous noises. So you might be thinking, are squeaky floors a structural problem? Your floor may be squeaking for a variety of reasons. It is a pretty frequent problem with straightforward fixes in most instances. However, a noisy floor may also signify more serious structural issues in your house.

Squeaky Floor

Floors can sometimes creak as a result of movement. A loose floorboard brushing against the other board, a nail, or a joist causes the floor to squeak due to friction. A variety of circumstances causes the floor’s squeaking; some are typical, while others require extreme caution.

Are Squeaky Floors A Structural Problem – Explained

No need to worry about if squeaky floors are a structural problem, so relax. This issue often occurs due to the floors drying out over time from the dry environment, which is prevalent mainly in northern locations where heating gets used for a significant portion of the year. The flooring becomes re hydrated after the interior humidity gets restored. They inflate and brush against the flooring, the nail casings, or one another.

So what should you understand before the actual repair?

Reasons Why The Floor Is Squeaky

Apart from just discussing are squeaky floors a structural problem, here are some of the reasons why it is like this.

Humidity

Wintertime temperatures can drop exceedingly low. Naturally, we raise the electric heating to maintain our houses warm, but doing so has the unintended consequence of making the property extremely dry. The wood may contract as a result of this dryness.

The humidity increases when the temperature heats up once more, which causes the floors to expand once more. This growth may weaken the bond between the floors and joists. The boards can therefore move more freely than they should, which results in the squeaking.

Not Properly Installed

A badly placed sub floor is another frequent cause of creaking flooring, and there might not be enough alignment in the sub floor. They creak when you walk over these gaps between the flooring and sub floors.

Short Floorboards

This explanation is more plausible if the squeaks get isolated to a few spots on the floor rather than being heard everywhere. If the floorboard was too short when installed, it might not have reached the joist beneath.

As a result, the board won’t have any support from below, allowing it to shift and perhaps brush against another floorboard, causing a squeak.

Damaged Floor Joists

The sub flooring that gets supported by unequal floor joists will also be uneven. The sub floor’s nails may eventually fall loose due to the unequal joists. The squeaking sound gets caused by the loose nail rubbing on the hardwood or the sub floor rubbing on the floor joists as you step above it. Additionally, the floor joists might develop cracks. This frequently also causes sub floor nails to loosen. To secure them, contractors might obstruct floor joists at various locations. Of course, incorrect blocking might cause the joists to slide and squeak. This is common in houses with many levels and underground areas.

Not Cut Square

The timbers won’t be able to fit correctly firmly enough when fitted if they aren’t all uniformly squared off. The timbers would have had greater space to move as a result, and eventually, they’ll start to scrape against one another.

How To Fix Squeaky Floor?

Following are the ways to fix the squeaky floor:

Exposed Hardware

You’re in luck if your hardwood flooring can get seen! You can use talcum powder to cover the sound-producing boards quickly as a short remedy. Move the brush back and forth to get the powder between the cracks. Doing so will provide lubricant, and the noise will stop.

Fix It From Below

If the issue-level has an area beneath it, go over there, get a buddy to go around the space, and then do the following actions:

- Keep a watchful eye on the sub floor.
- Tape or another such instrument should get used to mark the area if there is movement.
- Try to spot gaps by looking at the nearby joists in the specified region.
- Put a little wedge into the opening that permits movement.

If the joists are sound, search for a space between the floor and the subfloor. Pulling the two components together requires inserting wood fasteners where the noisy region is. The screws must be wide enough to go through the floor without popping through to the other side, so pay close attention to their length. Afterward, you don’t want to tread on the screw points, do you?

Read How to Reduce Noise from Upstairs Floors HERE

Fix It From Above

If working from below is not an option, it gets advised to utilize spiral flooring screws and take the following actions

- you will need to take whatever is on the floor up.
- By locating the source, determine if the squeaking occurs from a joist or a space between joists.
- Place two of the screws mentioned above into the floor and subfloor levels in a V-shape.

Professional Help

The reasons described in this article are not immediately apparent by just glancing at the ground. Your best option would be to contact a specialist to try to assist you in determining the actual problem, which means you’ll avoid wasting money on unnecessary repairs.

Final Thought

Squeaky flooring often does not indicate major structural issues, and the procedures mentioned above may get used to mend noisy floorboards swiftly. Squeaky floors, however, can also signify more significant difficulties, such as those with the foundation, which call for expert assistance.

Check Out: